Rumshpringa, or "Rumspringa," is a period of adolescence for some members of the Amish community, during which a youth temporarily leaves his or her community to explore and experience life in the outside world. Pop culture and media define this as a time period of massive abuse of drugs, sex, and alcohol. In a traditional context, it is an adolescent milestone, for youngins get to choose to follow Amish practice or go astray and mainstream themselves into English life (non-Amish life).
By no means am I saying it is a civic duty of every person to convert themselves to Amish practice and then walk the tight rope of legal and illegal activity. What I mean is for people to allow themselves a break from tradition and to explore the unknown; to get to know themselves and not the identity which was thrust upon them.
What seems to be our life, our choice, our freedom, often turns over to the authority of their. "Their" can reference multiple people from whom we choose to defy or receive guidance from: a parent, older sibling, teacher, mentor, etc. Our expectations of ourselves are often times created by an outsider within the world of "I." Our self guiding steering wheels are being handed over to people who should have never been in our car in the first place.
Yes, you might be saying "but this is what college is for." And you are right, if that is how you define and experience freedom. Not everyone does.
I believe everyone should be given the right for self exploration. There are people tied to familial and work duties that won't allow them to self reflect and analyze on all which they think they understand and believe to be true. There are people who don't make college out as "me time". There are people who never go to college, yet alone never have the opportunity to do so.
You don't have to be indebted a quarter of a million dollars to an educational institution to discover yourself once, twice, or thrice over. You don't have to be included in a secret society, or a not so secret social club. Hell, you don't even have to travel to India to have "an awesome freakin' time of self revelation, maaan."
Temporarily factor out the known. Explore the unknown. Breathe in something new. I don't care how you go about doing it, so long as it gets done. It is your civil duty.
There is nothing more tragic than a lack of sensation and perception of yourself. Float your own stinkin' boat. You're the captain of that damn contraption. Own it (and give it a cool name like "Dragons Black Plunder" or "The Black Pearl").
Be the Captain Jack Sparrow of your own crummy ship, and never let a soul other than your own call it crummy.
Right on, Justyna! Your post reminded me of all the Self and "find yourself" talk that was prevalent in Siddartha and Into the Wild. Goodstuff. I agree. A lot of people nowadays get caught up in the superficial and forget to go deeper. Into themselves. Which is sad because it is most definitely a rewarding journey worth taking. Probably one of the best life experiences one can embark on. I sure wish I could dedicate more time to doing just that. But I "have" to meet the status quo of a successful teenager if I want to be a successful and productive member of society in my years to come. Which unfortunately involves a little too much time away from exploring myself and the unknown around me. Ya know, since I need to do homework and go to school and spend time at home. Oh well.
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